mcords19
CNRBV - Converse Junction
On the afternoon of August 1, 2022, UP coal train CNRBV labors up the stiff grade at Converse Junction on BNSF’s Orin Subdivision. Operating on a longstanding trackage rights agreement, the train will diverge onto home rails in 52 miles at Shawnee Junction. Roaring EMD 16-710s fill the desolate Wyoming air as a misplaced NS SD70ACe hitches a ride back east.
This afternoon in the Powder River Basin was uncharacteristically busy given the depressing state of coal, with a seemingly endless flow of trains arriving at or waiting to depart the mines. This traffic jam would persist for several hours, as the railroads gave me a glimpse at what things may have looked like during the Basin’s prime. At this time, there was minimal car storage along the Orin line – a sight commonly found today as more coal sets become idled.
Just off the departure loop at North Rochelle Mine, this load is destined for Cedar Rapids, IA, and will be unloaded at Archer-Daniels-Midland’s massive corn processing plant, which features a 6-unit, 256-megawatt power plant. Sub-bituminous coal remains the plant’s energy source in 2025, and is critical for drying, fermentation, and distillation.
CNRBV - Converse Junction
On the afternoon of August 1, 2022, UP coal train CNRBV labors up the stiff grade at Converse Junction on BNSF’s Orin Subdivision. Operating on a longstanding trackage rights agreement, the train will diverge onto home rails in 52 miles at Shawnee Junction. Roaring EMD 16-710s fill the desolate Wyoming air as a misplaced NS SD70ACe hitches a ride back east.
This afternoon in the Powder River Basin was uncharacteristically busy given the depressing state of coal, with a seemingly endless flow of trains arriving at or waiting to depart the mines. This traffic jam would persist for several hours, as the railroads gave me a glimpse at what things may have looked like during the Basin’s prime. At this time, there was minimal car storage along the Orin line – a sight commonly found today as more coal sets become idled.
Just off the departure loop at North Rochelle Mine, this load is destined for Cedar Rapids, IA, and will be unloaded at Archer-Daniels-Midland’s massive corn processing plant, which features a 6-unit, 256-megawatt power plant. Sub-bituminous coal remains the plant’s energy source in 2025, and is critical for drying, fermentation, and distillation.